Years ago there was a commercial that asked the question, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” For those of you tracking with my illustration you know the answer...one, two three. The answer is three! 

For those of you who are not tracking with my illustration take a look at the commercial in this post.

I'm sure you noticed at the end of the commercial the question is asked again, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" The answer, "The world may never know.” A simple Google search will verify people have tried but it just comes up a little different for everyone.

Believe it or not I have asked the same question about success and failure. How many times must we fail before we achieve success? Three? 33? 333? The

The Wise Old Owl gets it’s name from a very old nursery rhyme that went like this…

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

From the nursery rhyme to modern day life the owl is seen as wise mostly because of their ability to sit completely still and remain silent. They are perceived as observant and aware and seem to pay close attention to what is going on around them.

Take a look, with the stillness and silence of the owl, at Psalm 34 and see if anything resonates for you as a leader. I have read Psalm 34 a number of times but this week as I sat quietly open and mindfully available I read it differently. I hope you do s well.

We Are Perpetual With Praise

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. Psalm 34:1 NLT

Even though circumstances may have wrapped us in despair we

If your mind went to where mine did when selecting this title then you may be thinking about the personalities of “others” that hinder our ability to lead. While there are personalities that do fit that description (I’m sure we could all give a testimony) I am not talking about others, but ourselves as leaders.

There are 3 personalities that can exist in each of us as leaders that if left unchecked or unchanged render us average to useless in our future leaders endeavors. Here they are and what we can do about it.

The Complacent Personality

I like the quote by John Wooden, “I am not what I ought to be, not what I want to be, not what I am going to be, but thankful that I am not what I used to be.” I love this quote because it talks about the progression of character, of moving forward. Being complacent is different

1. Listen For Direction

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 32:8 ESV

We often have an idea of what we want to accomplish this week, this month or even this year. But, do we sit down and talk to God about it first? God has a plan for each of our lives. Setting goals in accordance with Gods purpose requires us to remain open to what God is saying and the direction He is leading. The first step to setting a goal is not "setting a goal" but rather sitting still and

1. Failure

“You are such a failure!” You may have heard these words aloud from someone across the room or they may be gently whispered to you by the enemy.

Failure is not a person but rather a choice we made or an experience we have been through. Either way we feel like we are at the bottom looking up. On occasion, God wants us at the bottom because our perspective

You see it everywhere, reclaimed wood, reclaimed metal, reclaimed furniture, and in California reclaimed water. “Reclaimed” is the new, well, new.

We take reclaimed things and reuse, redecorate and rethink how to best use old elements in new ways…we RePurpose them.

With all of this reclaiming and RePurposing of wood palates, used brick and metal pipes we have forgotten the most important of all reclaimed things, people.

Broken people, hurt people, worn out people, what do we do with them? Best to leave them out back or in a dumpster? I believe God is looking for a few holy dumpster divers to ReClaim and RePurpose people who have been